Baghdad, Washington discuss moving refugees from Al-Hol camp to Iraq
Part of the Al-Hol Camp in Syria, near the border with Iraq. Photo: Reuters
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fuad Hussein, reviewed on Tuesday with the US Ambassador to Iraq, Alina Romanowski, bilateral relations and moving families from the Al-Hol camp to Iraq, according to a statement issued by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.
The statement mentioned that the meeting between Hussein and Romanowski addressed ways to enhance bilateral relations between Baghdad and Washington to serve the interests of the people of both countries.
Both sides talked about moving families from the Al-Hol camp in Syria to a camp inside Iraq and the challenges related to this process, the statement clarified.
The Iraqi Foreign Minister and the US Ambassador also discussed the coming meeting of the Global Coalition against Daesh (ISIS), which will be held in Saudi Arabia with the participation of the foreign ministers of the member states, the statement added.
The Al-Hol camp is located in the Syrian countryside of Al-Hasakah, near the Iraqi border, and is under the control of the US army and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
According to the United Nations, more than 55 thousand people live in Al-Hol refugee camp, located less than 10 kilometers from the Iraqi borders.
In addition to foreign families of militants, estimated at about 10 thousand people, the camp also shelters families of displaced Syrians and Iraqis, some of whom are still in contact with ISIS.
In 2014, the terrorist group of ISIS took control of large areas in Iraq and Syria before being defeated in 2017.